The National Rifle Association is in the business, along with other even more fringe gun advocacy groups, of ginning up the base into a froth of hysteria. In this case, the gun lobby – as it is known – has been "warning" the white males psychologically in need of guns that Obama is going to confiscate all their firearms [...]

Timothy McVeigh was no anomaly. He just happened to succeed in killing 168 people in Oklahoma City... They are homegrown cousins of the Islamic Jihad movement, imbued with the conviction that killing in order to save the sacred gun culture is an act of martyrdom, not a crime. [...]

Thom Hartmann:

If the anti-slavery folks in the North had figured out a way to disband - or even move out of the state - those southern militias, the police state of the South would collapse.

Now, we have our first African-American president and the heritage of the "slave patrols" is returning with a vengeance as the gun lobby stirs up white males fearing for their loss of power in society into a frenzy.

The 23 executive orders proposed by President Obama include many that are aimed at reversing the NRA's thus far successful excerpts to limit the ability of law enforcement to reduce and solve gun crime and violence. [...]

[T]he NRA will whip up a storm of virulent and bellicose opposition to Obama's executive orders, with menacing language that will fall just short of calling for an armed rebellion.

Somewhere, perhaps in many members of the gun cult, the idea of Jihad for the cause of armed white males will result in an effort to shoot the president.

That is, in fact, the chilling potential lethal threat that Obama faces in taking such a forceful public stand on reducing the toll guns take in our society. [...]

For the moment, Obama – who BuzzFlash at Truthout has criticized many a time for being too conciliatory toward right wing loonies – has shown us a profile in courage, one in which he is putting the lives of the American people above his own.

The president had me in tears. And as I was crying for those who have been killed by guns, I was being bombarded by trolls on Twitter calling for his impeachment because he's acting like, you know, a king for doing what other presidents have done, only they did it far more often. Via Snopes and The American Presidency Project:

* Require criminal background checks for all gun sales.* Take four executive actions to ensure information on dangerous individuals is available to the background check system. * Reinstate and strengthen the assault weapons ban. * Restore the 10-round limit on ammunition magazines.* Protect police by finishing the job of getting rid of armor-piercing bullets.* Give law enforcement additional tools to prevent and prosecute gun crime.* End the freeze on gun violence research.* Make our schools safer with more school resource officers and school counselors, safer climates, and better emergency response plans.* Help ensure that young people get the mental health treatment they need.* Ensure health insurance plans cover mental health benefits.

And here are the 23 executive orders on guns and gun violence for which far right extremists want to impeach President Obama:

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system. 2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system. 3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system. 4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks. 5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun. 6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers. 7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign. 8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission). 9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations. 10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement. 11. Nominate an ATF director. 12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations. 13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime. 14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence. 15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies. 16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes. 17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities. 18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers. 19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education. 20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover. 21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges. 22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations. 23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

America clearly supports common sense public safety laws that cover firearms. We can no longer procrastinate or afford short attention spans that cause us to avoid finally taking action against the number of mass murders and gun crimes that are all too common in this country.

In the above video, Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson of California appears on CNN to discuss 19 possible executive actions that President Obama could take without congressional approval. He wouldn't have to consider using those powers if stubborn Republicans in Congress would admit we have a problem serious enough to overcome their talking points and exaggerated and/or erroneous interpretations of the Second Amendment:

CNN -- The president could demand that agencies provide data for background checks that are supposed to accompany gun sales, ensuring that information included in the checks is as "comprehensive and complete as possible," Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson of California told CNN.

Obama also could immediately appoint a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which has been without a permanent chief for six years, Thompson said. [...]

[ADemocratic member of Congress], speaking on condition of not being identified, cited loopholes in the federal database for background checks on gun sales as well as issues involving mental health checks as possibilities for executive action.

Biden also discussed possible legislative action for Congress, including reinstating a Clinton-era ban on military style assault weapons that expired in 2004, banning large-capacity ammunition magazines, tightening laws banning someone with a clean record from buying a gun for someone without a clean record, and broadening campus safety laws.

Armed guards at schools didn't come up for consideration.

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